Spiritual Growth Group
Fulfilling Spiritual Needs and Acquiring Spiritual Traits
Negative Emotion Control
The traits we cover in this course are:
- Wakefulness
- Identity
- Affirmation
- Honesty
- Mindfulness
- Forgiveness
- Joy
- Serenity
This workshop gathers group of people who support each other in their personal spiritual growth. You focus on the vertical dimension of your inner life and your relationship with God as you understand Him, and with others. The goal of the seminar is to facilitate your work on yourself through 1) facing your own shortcomings in an open, honest and constructive way; and 2) taking the journey with others.
The group is not about improving your business or financial life, your physical health or your relationships. You discover eight basic human spiritual needs, and each is satisfied by the work you perform and the assistance you give others. And it is quite possible that the inner work will lead to improvements in other areas of you life.
The method is sharing, not judging, not criticizing or advising. The spiritual growth group is moderated by a leader who is trained to listen but does not to admonish, scrutinize or advise. The main teacher is experience. In this sense, all who take the course are teachers as well as learners, since we learn from honest sharing. There is nothing to fix; only a path to take. The leader and the participants walk with each other.
The method consists of concentrating each week on a task. This means that everyone is encouraged to view intensely some aspect of his or her nature that is blocking connection to God and others. For example, it may be criticism of others or criticism of oneself. The task assignment includes a method of approach to be used in facing up to and handling the negative way of being or thinking.
When a dozen or so people spend a little time each day on a specified task and then share their experiences, a spiritual energy is made available; there is a reciprocal encouragement among the participants. The mutual aid brings light to our spirits, and support for change.
The program was designed on the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ is our higher power. People in the course are not required to accept that, but they must have some kind of higher power to do the work of regeneration.
The only requirement for this course is a desire to grow spiritually. All people are welcome to attend whatever their religious philosophies may be. The Bible and the theology of the Christian philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, are the main sources of ideas, plus a variety of other sources.
The course is a practical, day-to-day way of working on your regeneration. The course will work for you to the extent that you use the tasks, and observe what happens in your inner life.
Comments by people who have taken this course
“After doing the course I feel like my spiritual life is waking up. There are worlds out there, but I have some concrete things to work on. It will be worth reading this material over and over again.”
“I like the gradual, step approach to inner awareness; perhaps the first course I’ve been in that is both experiential and grounded in a rational basis.”
“Years of classes, lectures, reading, support groups and the like have not had the immediate impact on my life that the sessions of the Spiritual Growth Groups
have had. This course works!”
“Meeting with a group on a regular basis gives one the incentive to pay attention and get honest about the work of spiritual growth.”
“The manner in which you learn about yourself and others in a spiritual realm without prejudice or judgment is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever encountered. I have learned to be more accepting and forgiving of others and of myself. The warmth, love, support and compassion are phenomenal.”
“A valuable experience that provides a safe supportive atmosphere for people to identify areas needing improvement - and to work on them, and discuss triumphs and difficulties with a like-minded group.”
“It is a doorway, and when you pass through, it places you in a new state - lighter, brighter, and you know yourself as you did not before. ‘Know thyself’, and ‘to thine own self be true.’”
For more information
Call Clark Echols at 513-284-1236 or by email through information@newchurch-cincy.org